Fruit brusher



June 3, 194.1. G, P, MARSDEN 2,244,110

FRUIT BRUSHER Filed Maro 17, 1939 f 2 sheets-spt 2 I slaaa-Fff /3 Ff. 750

75,0 "nx "wr 'u if@ j i @f8 @4 i "Sw 45 ,x v

'1716.5 FIG'.

Arme/mf Pa'tented June 3, 1941 UNITED STATES i HQE Food Machinery ICorpor ation,

San Jose, Calif.,

a corporation of Delaware Application March 17, 1939, Serial No. 262,494

(ICI. .l-4179) 1 Claim.

This invention relates to brushing machines for treating rollable bodies and is particularly useful for cleaning, drying, polishing or otherwise treating fresh, whole fruit Aor the like.

In the citrus industry, for example, a type of brushing machine commonly used for treating fruit is such as disclosed in United States Patent No. 1,946,023 issued February 6, 1934, to Lloyd E. Jones. This machine includes a frame in which juxtaposed transverse brushes are rotatably mounted to provide a fruit brushing surface, the brushes being power driven in a commen direction of rotation. The fruit tends to remain in the valleys formed between adjacent brushes where it is rotated and brushed, `suitable means usually being provided to urge the valley to valley across the brushing surface.

In machines of this type the brushes are usually comprised of cores provided circumferentially with tufts of bristles disposed in radial relation with the axis of rotation of the brush. VA fruit body supported in a valley formed between two such rotating brushes is rotated on a horizontal axis by 'the brushes and when the shape of the body is somewhat elongated the body tends to rotate about its longest axis thus subjecting a relatively small 'area of the fruit body to substantially more brushing than. that received by the eportions adjacent the axis of rotation.

An object of my invention is to provide a fruit brusher embodying juxtaposed brush rolls in which more of the surface of each fruit body is subjected to the scrubbing action of the brushes A further object of this invention is the provision of such abrushing machine in which the friction between the brushes and fruit bodies is substantially increased so as to produce a more vigorous scrubbing action on the fruit.

Still another object accomplished bythe prescnt invention is the provision of a fruit brushing surface comprised of bristles so arranged as to be more yieldable than those commonly used in the art, thus increasing the area of Contact between each fruit body and the brushing surface.

Further objects and advantages will be made manifest in the following description taken in View of the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a side elevational View of a preferred embodiment of the apparatus of my invention, side portions being broken away to more clearly show the structure thereof.

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the machine shown in Fig. l, upper portions being broken away to disclose the manner in which the brushing elements are mounted in the machine.

fruit from Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, vertical sectional View taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, diagrammatic plan View of three adjacent brushes of the machine of my invention showing the manner in which a fruit body is brushed, portions of the brushes being broken away to show the arrangement `of the bristles.

Fig. 5 is a View taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. A4.

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 5-- of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a View similar to Fig. manner in which a vfruit body is rotated by the brushes iafter being yadvanced to the next valley from that in which it is shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. v8 is a view taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7.

Referring specifically to the drawings, the preferred form of my invention there shown Comprises a fruit brusher il), this including a frame ll, fruit brushes l2 and E75, a cleanout mechanism lli and power means l5. f

The frame l l has legs I6 upon which longitudinal angle `iron frame members I1 and I8 4 showing V,the

lare supported as shown, in Fig. 3.' Mounted cn the member il are bearings drive shafts 2l rotate, each a sprocket 22 iixed thereon and being provided with a pin 23 on the inner extremity thereof. Mounted on the member IB are bearings 2,5 aligned transversely with the bearings 20 and having studs 26 secured therein by set screws 21. Secured to certain of the bearings 2o and 25 as seen in Fig. 3 are side plates 39 and 3|- having fruit guard rails 32 thereon. Mounted on the side plate 3u and frame member l1 as seen'in Fig. 3 is a housing 35 having upper and lower chain tracks $6 and :il `respectively provided therein. At opposite ends of the brusher I D are delivery and discharge drop boards 4B and 2s in which brush of the latter having 4l respectively as shown in Figs. l and 2.

`The brushes l2 and E3, cludecylindrical cores $5 having bored end members 46 mounted thereon for rotatably receiving inner ends of the studs 2t. Mounted on opposite ends of the cores 45 are drive end members il bored to receive extremities of the drive shafts 2l and having slots 48 adapted' to receive .the pins 23 `of the drive shafts 2l.

Mounted circumferentially on the cores 45 of the brushes l2 and I3 as `shown in Fig. 4, are inclined tufts of bristles Eli, the bristles 50 of `the brushes l2 being inclined toward the drive end members il thereof while thosev of the brushes i3 are inclined toward the idle end members 45, it being noted that the inclined as shown in Fig. 4, in-

`ably under the Weight of fruit bodies shaft 10 having a sprocket 1I and gear Aindicated by the arrow thereon in Fig. 1.

bristles of each of the brushes I2 and I3 :are inclined in a direction opposite to that of the bristles 50 of the brushes adjacent thereto. On the idle ends of the brushes I2 and the drive ends of the brushes I3 (those ends away from which the bristles 50 incline) circumferential rows of radial bristles 5I are mounted for the purpose of lling out the brushing surfaces on these ends of the cores 45. As seen in Fig. 4, the angle of inclination of a circumferential row of the tufts of bristles 50a adjacent the circumferential rows of radial bristles 5I is substantially one-half as great as the angle of inclination of the remaining tufts of inclined bristles 50. The provision of the bristles 50a. of lesser angularity between the bristles 50 and 5I prevents the formation of a circumferential break in the brushing surface that would result if the row of bristles 56a of lesser angularity were not interposed between the .bristles 50 and 5I. On the end of each of the cores 45, opposite the end on which the radial bristles 5I are mounted is another circumferential row of bristles 52 which serve. to support the endmost of the inclined bristles 50 and resist the weight of the fruit bodies disposed thereon, it being noted that, without the radial bristles 52, the inclined bristles 52 at this end of the brush would fiex considerand become prematurely deformed and inefficient.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the cleanout mechanism I4 includes a driven shaft 55 and an idle `shaft 56, these having sprockets 51 thereon about which chains 58 are trained. Carried by the chains 58 and extending transversely therebetweenare cleanout members 6E! adapted to urge fruit bodies across the brushes I2 and I3, the

members 6I) having yieldahle fruit engaging fingers EI provided thereon. The cleanout mechanism I4 is driven from the last drive shaft 2l by a'suitablechain drive 62 and gearing 63 as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

The power means I5, shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1, comprises a shaft 55 having a gear 65 andfpulley 61 fixed thereon, this shaft being driven by a belt 68 extending from a motor 69 to the pulley 61. Below the shaft 65 is a counter 12 fixed thereon, the gear 12 meshing with the gear 66 of the shaft 65. Trained about the sprocket 1I ofthe shaft 10 is a brush drive chain 15 guided by idle sprockets 16, 11 and 18. The upper night of the chain 15 is carried by the upper chain track 35 while the lower flight is held in mesh with 'the brush drive sprockets 22 by the lower chain in Figs. 1 and 3.

Operation When used in a packing house as a fruit track 31 as shown washer, for example, the brusher I!) of this invention is positioned to receive fruit from a soakin g tank and to discharge the fruit into a drying unit in a manner familiar in the art, the brusher yIl) serving to scrub the fruit bodies to remove surface dirt loosened during the soaking process.

Rotation of the motor E9 is transmitted to the brush drive chain 15 through the belt 68 and gears 66 and 12, the lower iiight of the chain 15 'being drawn leftward as viewed in Fig. 1 so as tordrive all of the brushes I2 and I3 in a clockwise direction. The cleanout chains 58 are driven by the chain 62 and gearing 63 in the direction The soaked fruit discharged from the aforementioned CII brushes I2 and I3, the

and brushed in a manner described hereinafter. 'Ihe fruit is caused to progress from valley to valley through the brusher i8 by the feeding of additional fruit to the machine, the fruit in a given valley being displaced and advanced to the next valley by the arrival of the additional fruit at said given valley in the manner disclosed in United States Patent No. 1,957,964 issued May 8, 1934, to Lloyd E. Jones. 'The cleanout mechanism I4 facilitates the feeding of the fruit through the brusher It and also serves to clean out the residual fruit remaining in the brusher I0 at the end of a run.

Referring now to Fig. 4, the valleys between the three adjacent brushes shown therein are indicated at A and B, the direction of rotation of the three 'brushes being indicated by the arrows thereon. A piece of fruit F in the valley A rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow thereon about an axis X-Y, disposed in angular relation with Vthe axis of rotation of the brushes, this axis being disposed at an angle from the vertical plane as viewed in Fig. 4 and at a greater angle from horizontal as viewed in Fig. 5, the angularity of the axis of rotation of the fruit body being caused `by the inclination of the bristles 58. y

While in the valley A and being rotated by the adjacent brushes about the axis X-Y, the fruit body F contacts these brushes about a circular zone P defined diagrammatically on the body F in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. As the means of the radii between the axis X-Y and the points at which the brushes contact the fruit body F is substantially less than this mean is where the fruit body rotates about an axis parallel with the brushes, the fruitbody F rotates about axis X-Y at a correspondingly higher speed. As more .power is required to rotate the body F at this higher speed, the friction between the body F and adjacent brushes is substantially increased resulting in a more vigorous scrubbing of the fruit by the brushes. When the body F is moved from the valley A to the next valley B by the arrival of additional fruit in the valley A or by the cleanout mechanism i4, the angularity of the axis X--Y relative to the axes of the brushes is reversed and the body F is brushed on the circular zone indicated at P in Figs. '1 and 8.

It is to be noted that the zones l? and P indicated on the fruit body F in Figs. 7 and 8 illustrate the portions of the fruit surface which are brushed when the axis of rotation X-Y of the body is undisturbed as by contact with other fruit bodies or during transfer of the body F from one valley to the next. In actual practice, the axis X-Y tends to remain as shown in either of the two positions shown in Figs. 4 to 8 but contact of other bodies with the body F as well as the advancing of the body from one valley to the next causes the axis X-Y to vary sufficiently to bring the areas of the body F outside of the zones P and P into contact with the brushes thus resulting in the brushing of the entire surface of the body F rather than only the zones P and. P.

A further advantage resulting in the use of the angular bristles 50 is that the area of contact between a fruit body and these bristles is greater than when radial bristles alone are used. This I0 onto the Vuppermost in the valleys between. the brushes where the fruit bodies are rotatedA is due to the greater flexibility of the angular bristles under the weight of the fruit, the latter sinking deeper into the brushing surface of the angular bristles and having a greater portion of its surface brushed than is the case with brushes having radial bristles.

It has been found in actual practice that the amount of suds resulting from the scrubbing of the Wet, soapy fruit in the brusher l0 is substantially greater than the amount of suds produced by brushes having only radially disposed bristles. This fact results from the more vigorous scrubbing action of the `brushes I 2 and I3 and from the greater iiexibility of the inclined bristles as compared to radial bristles which flex considerably less than the bristles 5B of the brusher l0.

Although' I have shown and described the brusher il? of my invention as being used to wash fruit, it is to be understood that any other treating process performed on rollable bodies by rotating brushes can be accomplished equally as well by the machine disclosed herein.

I claim as my invention:

In a rotary brush, the combination of: a core; tufts of bristles mounted circuinferentially on said core, said tufts being inclined at a substantial angle away from one end of said core; a circumferential row of radially disposed tufts of bristles at the end of said core away from which said first mentioned tufts incline; and a circumferential row of inclined tufts between said first mentioned inclined tufts and said radial tufts, said circumferential row of inclined tufts being inclined away from said radial tufts at an angle substantially less than the angle of inclination of said rst mentioned tufts.

GEORGE P. MARSDEN. 

